"Good life insurance" charm is a thin totem like carved piece of oxidised sterling silver. The charm itself is 3mm square wire and 16mm long. Opposing sides of the charm are carved, and there are 5 cube sections running down the charm. Attached to the top is a small loop which connects to a 5mm internal jump ring, which can be threaded onto chain.
Materials: oxidised sterling silver
Dimensions: 24mm x 7mm x 3mm
As charms in all cultures including the modern Mexican and ancient Mayan cultures represents good wishes for the future... each charm has a made up (by Eli Speaks) system of codes. One side is representative of the body and wishes for good health. From top to bottom: Head, ribs/torso, legs, heart and the other side is general "good life insurance" wishes, from top to bottom: water, food, a home, love and money.
Kate Higgins is a Melbourne-based fine jeweller, also known under the moniker Eli Speaks. Higgins’ aesthetic is strikingly crisp, clean and angular. She borrows architectural influences from the Art Deco period and, in recent works, ancient Mexican buildings.
And who is ‘Eli’? In Higgins’ own words:
“The name Eli comes from an ancestor of Kate’s, Eli Higgins. He lived in Kent, England during the late 1800’s. He was curiously mute, and had an apparent curse on him due to a promise made by his father, to his mother, that should he be born a girl (he had 3 older sisters), the father would never speak to him. As it turned out, the father welcomed the son he wished for with open arms... but the son would never utter a word to him. This strange case of selective mute-ness was recorded in the Medical Lancet of the time.”
Higgins completed a Bachelor of Design at CPIT in her native New Zealand in 2004, focusing on precious metal works. After moving to Melbourne, Australia, in 2007, Kate trained in the traditional manufacture of Fine Jewellery. 10 years later, Kate continues to hone her skills while meticulously handcrafting her own distinctive designs.
